Asus Eee Pad Slider - Connectivity, Screen and Performance

Summary

User Score

Asus hasn't helped its cause when it comes to connectivity, though. Around the edges you'll find a full size USB port, a mini HDMI, a headphone jack and Asus's charging port. But you miss out on a full size SD card reader and microUSB port for charging and data transfer.

Otherwise there are few slip ups. Inside is a speedy Nvidia Tegra 2, 1GHz dual core processor and 1GB of RAM, a choice of 16GB or 32GB of storage, and front and back cameras. The 10.1in, 1280 x 800 pixel IPS screen is also excellent with vivid colours, deep blacks and great viewing angles. Asus also continues its trend of including decent speakers, though on the noisy IFA show floor it was difficult to tell quite how good.

Inside the base there's also extra batteries that should extend this tablet's life beyond that of most rivals (though probably not to equal the 16hrs the Transformer lasts).

The Slider runs Android 3.1, Google's tablet specific OS, and thankfully hasn't mucked about with it too much. The main addition is that of Nvidia's Tegra Zone, a portal that picks out Nvidia Tegra 2 optimised games from the Android app store – currently there are 18 titles. Of course, being an Android tablet you've also got Adobe Flash support in the web browser and oodles of apps in the MarketPlace.

The tablet felt nippy and responsive making general navigation a breeze – there was none of the slight lag noticed on Samsung's latest tabs. However, there's a big ol' thorn in the Slider's side and that's its expected price. Currently we understand it's set to cost around £437 for the 16GB version and £525 for the 32GB model – a considerable sum more than the Transformer. At that price it's going to struggle to make an impact in the tablet market but if Asus chooses to bring it in at the same price as the Transformer it could find it has another hit on its hands. Heck, it's got a much better chance than the Sony P!